by Board Retailers Association | Jan 29, 2021 | Associate Members, Resources, Skateboard, Statistics, Surf
Action Watch (BRA Supporting Vendor Partner) works with specialty retailers, brands and industry partners in the surf and skate industries to share in-depth insights and actionable data on buying patterns so that we can all make better, more informed decisions to create a stronger, more successful industry together. BRA Distinguished Retail Members are granted access to quarterly retail sales reports and other relevant Action Watch data so you will know exactly what is happening at point of sale in specialty retail. BRA Distinguished Retail Members can now access all four quarters of 2020 (password protected) Action Watch Reports via the following link: https://actionwatch.com/2020-board-retailers-association/ If you are a BRA Distinguished Retail Member but do not already have the password credentials (user name and password) needed to access these insightful reports, please email our Executive Director doug@boardretailers.org and he will reply with the appropriate credentials. We encourage you to reach out to patrik@actionwatch.com with any questions related to the data and to learn more about the Project United program for Core Retailers through Action Watch. As stated above, BRA Distinguished Retail Members can gain access to recent and historical Core Surf and Skate Shop sales reports by category as well as Action Watch Core Retailer survey results. If you are not yet a BRA Distinguished Retail Member, you can easily opt in via this super simple join form If you have already opted into Regular Retail Membership, but would like to upgrade to Distinguished Retail Membership and benefit from additional offerings including the Action Watch Reports referenced above, please email our Executive Director doug@boardretailers.org and he will reply with an invoice and...
by Board Retailers Association | Nov 12, 2020 | Outdoor, Snowboard, Statistics
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released its annual report that lays out the importance of the outdoor recreation economy in hard data. The numbers are in. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) came out with its annual report today dissecting the importance of the outdoor economy across the nation. Officially an analysis of the agency’s Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, which measures “economic activity as well as the sales or receipts generated by outdoor recreational activities” across the country, the report laid out in clear terms just how crucial outdoor recreation remains to state economies from coast to coast. Across the board, the upshot was positive. The BEA’s report found that outdoor recreation contributed to the economies of all 50 states and accounted for 2.1 percent ($459.8 billion) of current-dollar gross domestic product and $788 billion in gross output (consumer spending) in 2019. According to a recap of the study published this morning by the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, it is likely these figures will be even higher for 2020, given the rise in outdoor participation during the pandemic. Read more: New data shows the outdoor industry heading in the right direction Lise Aangeenbrug, executive director of OIA, said after the release of the data, “The report published today proves that together, we are a force. The industry is a vital component of national, state, and local economies, as well as an important catalyst to America’s economic recovery.” Here’s what we learned from the numbers. States that benefited most from the outdoor economy The states that saw the highest value-add from outdoor recreation as a percentage of state GDP were clustered in the Intermountain West and the Northeast, with several key outliers...
by Board Retailers Association | Aug 4, 2020 | Associate Members, Industry, Resources, Skateboard, Statistics, Surf
June 2020 US core skate and surf sales grew +15% When we first saw the preliminary June 2020 sales data for the ActionWatch US retailer panel, we had a hard time believing the results. The first set of data indicated that year-over-year sales grew by 20% or more. By the time we received all the data, the store sales for all categories increased by +15% when compared to last June. This resulted in an almost perfect V-shaped recovery after a disastrous March, an even worse April, and a promising May. Source: Same-Store ActionWatch Panel 2019 to YTD June 2020 On the surface, this V-shaped recovery is encouraging, not just for the short-term recovery of the core surf and skate channel, but for the long-term health of the industry. While the Covid-19 pandemic forced store closures in March, April, and May, it also had a positive impact. As schools and team sports activities were shut down, kids and adults were looking for alternative ways to engage in sports while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Skateboarding not only fits this description, but is inexpensive and can be done just about anywhere. While water sports tend to require a larger investment in equipment and access to beaches, lakes, rivers, and boats, they are easy to participate in while practicing social distancing. Source: (C) 2020 Physical Activity Council (PAC Study). The PAC study is the most comprehensive study of sports participation in the USA, conducted by Sports Marketing Surveys USA – contact info@sportsmarketingsurveysusa.com. Once core stores were able to reopen, malls were still closed, and consumers received stimulus checks it represented a perfect...
by Board Retailers Association | Jul 15, 2020 | Industry, News, Resources, Statistics
We had a quick chat with Patrik Schmidle from ActionWatch where he shared key takeaways from a recent survey with retailers across the country. Business was good for board sports retailers in 2019 and that momentum carried over to the first 2.5 months of 2020. But then the pandemic came and the industry was hit with store closures, concerns whether they would receive emergency funding, and how long could they survive. Fast forward to July and the trends show a strong recovery with hardgoods leading the way, consumers are excited to get outside and many retailers have at least 4 months of cash on hand to ride out the pandemic. Many are cautiously optimistic but are also taking safety measures to ensure survival. Highlights from this recent survey include: A large majority reported June 2020 was up vs June 2019 – half reported 26% or higher growth4th of July holiday weekend sales strong, prompting optimism through the end of July#1 action brands should take: Have ‘open to buy’ inventory, #2 is to maintain pricing integrity3 Biggest concerns are that they have to close doors again, that they don’t have enough inventory and that the consumer stimulus endsTop 3 safety measures are more vigilant sanitation, masks for employees and masks for customers70% increased hardgoods inventory, 35% decreased apparel inventory2/3 are either at pre-COVID staffing levels or aboveMore than half have 4 months or more of cash on hand, confident they will survive Reach out to patrik@actionwatch.com to get more details behind this survey and to learn more about the Project United program for Core Retailers through Action Watch. Be sure to visit the Propaganda HQ website to view...
by Board Retailers Association | Jul 13, 2020 | Associate Members, Corona Virus, Industry, News, Statistics
Please click on the following link to view this relevant Shop Eat Surf Article containing statistics and commentary from BRA Supporting Vendor Partner Action Watch: Core Retailers Much More Optimistic After Big Rebound Be sure to visit the Shop Eat Surf website to view valuable Industry News and Resourceful Articles regularly via this link: Shop Eat Surf If you are not already a BRA Retail Member, you can easily opt in to either Regular (no cost) or Distinguished ($99/yr.) Membership via this super simple join...
by Board Retailers Association | Jul 10, 2020 | Corona Virus, Retail Strategy, Statistics
The COVID-19 pandemic drove customers away from stores, shut down businesses, and ground the global economy to a screeching halt. Now that the world has begun to return, retailers must think strategically to prevent temporary disruption from becoming a permanent end. When we talked to more than 400 retailers about how they adapted to the coronavirus pandemic and the regulations that followed, we found a group of people who were both flexible in their strategies and optimistic for the future. Our Reopening of Retail Report, released in June 2020, found that 80.5 percent of retailers believe sales will be no worse than slightly lower than usual for the first 90 days of reopening, while 22 percent expect higher-than-average sales in the first 90 days. How do retailers expect that optimism will translate into revenue, though? Which changes from the pandemic do they think will help them, which changes will they scrap, and which of their new processes and policies will be codified into permanent practices? Let’s take a closer look at what our research discovered. Related story: How Retail is Evolving and Where it’s Headed in 2020 How Retailers Responded to COVID-19 Restrictions Of all the changes retailers made, total store closure topped our findings at 51 percent. A little more than half of our survey population reported closing their stores entirely for at least a period of time. This should come as no surprise, given the prevalence of shelter-in-place orders at the height of the pandemic. While some retailers managed to stay open due to their status as essential businesses, most spent at least some of the time with their doors...
